Week of 4/29/13

Written by Press Readers

April 29, 2013

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Lack of knowledgeTo the editor: Reading the letter “NRA government?” in the April 15 issue, I told myself that the almost total lack of knowledge (ignorance) that the general public has about firearms, our Constitution, how government works and world history is astounding and disheartening to say the least.

Why no uproar about media bias? The media should remove itself from telling us what it and government wants us to hear and tell us the unbiased truth. The media is supposed to be neutral. Why is it that there is no uproar about the 3,800 children per day who die in this country? You read that right – 3,800 per day. Oh but that's legal.

The NRA has approximately five million members. Hundreds of thousands of them are service personnel and members of our police forces. The NRA is “the people” and the oldest organization in this country. Do we really think those five million are wrong and the couple hundred in Washington are right?

Man has been violent with man from the beginning of time. This is not going to stop anytime soon. Actually, it is getting worse and more unpredictable. A firearm is a great equalizer during a violent situation. A 70-year-old cannot fight two 20-somethings when the door gets kicked in. If he can, he can call 911 when it’s over – if he’s able to.

There are many more scenarios we read and hear about each day. Help me to understand how taking away people’s ability to protect themselves and others from all aggressors foreign and domestic is the right thing to do. Are we so dull as a people as to believe that we can take away all of the different weapons (hammers, ball bats, knives, bombs, cars, or firearms) of choice violators might use?

Do we really believe that as a people, we can create enough laws and pass enough legislation to create the utopia everyone is looking for and not have three-fourths of the citizens in jail? As to who profits from all of this, all Americans profit from this with personal and national security.

Past world leaders have even commented that invading America is not even considered because its citizens are armed. There is a book that I read and it has this passage in it, “my people perish for lack of knowledge.” When does common sense and being realistic start again? We used to have that as a country.Mark CordellWalbridge

Shameful and cowardlyTo the editor: I will not address the opinions of the person who made a comment on my letter in the April 15 issue of The Press.

The Republicans and a few Democrats bent to the pressure of the NRA. It was shameful and cowardly.

The Second Amendment, when it was written, couldn’t predict things like AK 47s or “Montana.” It needs major changes. Where in the Second Amendment are the rights of those 20 children and teachers killed in Newtown?

Should we all be proud that the Republican Party has been successful in seeing that Americans retain the right to get ticked off and shoot 300,000 American people to death each year? It is a non-discriminatory action. You can shoot anyone to death, regardless of age, sex or ethnicity. They have protected rights of people who have assault weapons and putting more assault weapons on the streets at this time jeopardizes everyone’s safety. Public Safety should be paramount now, as always.

Background checks are conducted on all military service members before they are handed a weapon. In fact, 91 percent of military veterans support a universal background check for all gun sales, according to a survey commissioned by the organization Vote Vets and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.* No civilian should have access to a semi-automatic assault rifle. A federal ban will help prevent criminals from getting these dangerous firearms.

According to the Sunlight Foundation, 42 of the 45 dissenting senators who received donations from firearms lobbyists. The National Rifle Association alone has given $800,000 to 40 of the senators who voted against the amendment since 1990, much of it in the run-up to the last election. Hey folks, follow the money.

Many thanks to Adolphus Bush IV, an heir to the Busch family fortune, who asked the gun rights group to immediately remove his name from its membership. Here is a man of many principles.

I saw this saying, “There should be a background check before the NRA is allowed to buy a senator.”Joanne SchiavoneWalbridge

Movin’ on up?To the editor: I feel like I’m living in the sitcom, “The Jeffersons,” because Oregon is “movin’ on up.”

We’re getting a new coffee shop, two new service stations, a sub station, another dollar store and a Goodwill store, and a used car lot. I can’t believe the progress our council are making.

Are you kidding me? Can’t we do better than this? Well, at least we’re not getting another bank – yet.John GrayOregon

Levy support urged To the editor: On May 7, Oregon Schools will be asking the residents of Oregon and Jerusalem Township to renew the 2-mill permanent improvement (PI) levy.

This PI levy was originally approved in 1967 and has been renewed every five years with no increase in the millage. Monies collected through the PI will go toward maintenance of the district’s buildings and purchases of equipment meant to last more than five years.

Most recently, the board and school administration has used the money to make strategic investments to the schools’ infrastructure that has resulted in significant savings to the operational costs of the district.

Major projects included:• Improvement of the electrical service infrastructure to Clay, Fassett and Eisenhower buildings, resulting in an annual savings exceeding $200,000. A natural gas line was connected from Eisenhower to Jerusalem, saving $40,000 in heating costs. Solar panels were installed at Starr and Jerusalem this past winter.

The money collected from the upcoming five-year PI cycle will be used to fund

• Safety improvements to the school buildings, resulting in a more secure facility.

• New technology to integrate iPads and electronic text books into the classrooms.

• This will allow the schools to comply with the new State of Ohio computerized testing mandates.

State law mandates that no money from the PI levy can be used for operational costs or salaries.

The schools are an important part of the Oregon and Jerusalem Township communities. We need an efficient, well maintained school district to be successful in attracting businesses that want to locate here and families that want to grow here. Please review the levy information being made available to you before you make your decision.

I think you will agree that it’s in our best interest to vote to renew the permanent improvement levy.Dennis WalendzakOregon City Council Member

A house divided fallsTo the editor: I don’t want to enter into the divisiveness that is happening at St. Ignatius, but I do want to commend Ms. McCroskey for reminding me of all the sacrifice and hard work that went into our older churches. She made some excellent points.

I was honored to serve the first Mass at St Jerome when Fr. Pastorek was assigned as the pastor. I recall the sacrifices that my parents and others made to build the new church.

In our Catholic faith, the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle has always been at the center. All tabernacles were located at the center of the church for this reason. With Him at the center, it made it easier to focus on what united us.

I know that Vatican II allows for either a separate adoration chapel for the Eucharist or that the tabernacle be put in the center behind the altar.

I hope that the tabernacle is put at the center of the new church and that once again this helps to unite the people, including the pastor, as to what is really the most important thing we do. We are all called to “wash feet,” not to lord our power over others.

Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom. These keys are love and forgiveness. I pray they are put to good use at St. Ignatius. Let us also remember His admonition – “Everyone knows that a house divided falls!”Steve CherryOregon

Soft billing beneficialTo the editor: As president of the Oregon Part-Time Firefighters Association, I would like to say that city administrators and council have been very open and upfront with the idea of “soft billing.”

I was asked to sit in with the fire department, city administration and members of council to observe and comment on the candidates as the city was interviewing each company and their proposals.

I have been in contact with Chief Ellis and Mike Beazley about this process and we have had open communication with the part-time firefighters. I will say that we, as citizens, already pay for “soft billing.” The only downfall is that the city does not see the monetary return as other neighboring cities and townships do. “Soft billing” is utilized in Ohio and nationwide. It only makes sense that Oregon starts this program and places the money collected from insurance “not citizens’” back into the EMS/fire department budget.

Since Oregon is a city, however, and not a township, the money collected from “soft billing” cannot be guaranteed to go back to the EMS/fire fund. Section 737.112 of the Ohio Revised code mandates all funds collected in municipal corporations shall be credited to the general fund. There is no guarantee the money will be used for fire department capital improvements such as new ambulances, fire engines, station improvements and/or new fire stations.

The caveat is this: municipal corporations do, however, have the ability to create ordinances or resolutions, which in turn can supersede the Ohio Revised Code.

The last thing the part-time firefighters would want to see is the money collected to go back to the general fund, or have the money go into the EMS/fire fund and then the city pull or detour money that would have been going into the fire fund away and use it elsewhere.

The only guarantee the money would be allocated back into the EMS/fire fund would be language in an ordinance resolution that stipulates the money collected goes back into the Oregon Fire Levy Fund and/or EMS, which can be easily done.

There are mixed emotions among the 90 part-time firefighters in how they feel about this. However, I feel that comes not from the billing itself, but from the trust that the money collected will go back to benefit the fire department not to the general fund.

I would expect the city administration and council will remain open and honest in this approach as they have been. I feel with the open-ended approach the part-time firefighters and the city leaders can assist in educating and answering questions of the citizens whom we all serve.

I would like the citizens of Oregon to know that the part-time firefighters will continue to help, serve and protect our fellow neighbors in time of need and despair, regardless of where the money is allocated.Sean BeaversPresident, O.P.T.F.F.A

Use existing propertiesTo the editor: I’m very saddened to hear Alcore Senior, LLC, wants to tear up the field at Seaman and S. Coy roads in Oregon instead of choosing old properties with buildings just sitting empty and need of renovation or demolition. The field they want to destroy could be used for organic, healthy food for people, birds, animals and wildlife.

The environmentalists are so against drilling for oil in the U.S., yet they don’t seem to care at all about all the schools, stores and other types of buildings built on wild habitat and farmlands instead of places with dilapidated structures in the cities or suburbs.

Instead of building on farmlands and natural habitats, people should use their brains to figure out good, safe, beautiful ways to successfully rebuild our cities and suburbs. For example, why don’t they tear down the Great Eastern empty buildings on Woodville Road and put the senior complex there? I think that would be a wonderful location for something like that.

Thank you Dollar Tree stores and Rite Aid pharmacy for putting your stores in properties that were already used for commercial businesses. You are good neighbors and caring citizens.Glenda P. BurnatToledo

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